“I like the way that Life In Teacup has steeping notes on their site for every tea. This tea packs a punch for flavor but is not overwhelming, for me the toast is mild and it is woodsy but settles...”
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From Life In Teacup

Brewing 1a: Oolong, ball-shaped dry tea leaves
Vessel: gaiwan or small teapot
Water temperature: newly boiled water (above 95 °C or 203 °F)
Amount of leaves: 5 gram for every 120ml total volume (Or reduce the amount to 3 gram for some heavy oxidation and/or heavy roast products)
Warm-up infusion: pour hot water in the vessel, and immediately drain it. Wait for about 1min. before starting the next infusion.
Time for each of the first 3 infusions (after warm-up): 20sec. (Or reduce the infusion time to 10-15sec. for some heavy oxidation and/or heavy roast products)
Extend infusion time based on taste for later infusions. Most oolong tea can well last for at least 5-7 infusions.

5 Tasting Notes

This is VERY different than any Oolong I have tried and it was good, indeed! It’s roasty and toasty and I like it! Woodsy and leafy…hearty and strong! At first I thought it smelled like “New Car Smell”…but it was a little more leaf-like than that, I suppose. Regardless I think the reasons this is different is the key! This is tasty and interesting! If you are into roasted oolongs – try this!

I didn’t brew this tea in my breville, but what I did do is use the breville as a tea kettle, and I love being able to heat the water to the proper temperature without having to watch the kettle. The kettle that I retired yesterday was electric, cordless, and up until yesterday I thought it was the bees knees, but now that I’ve used my breville, I think I’d probably cry if I had to go back to the old kettle. This is so much faster. LOVE!

Anyways, I used the breville as a kettle so that I could steep this tea in my gaiwan. This is a delicious Oolong: sweet with a nice roasted flavor. It is different from other roasty-toasty Oolongs that I’ve had in that it has a lighter taste to it – it doesn’t overwhelm the palate, instead, it tempts and teases the palate with hints of flavors. Even though I appreciate both types (the subtle and the not-so-subtle) I like it when I find something different like this.

There is also a lovely vegetal quality to this Oolong, and a bit of floral taste in the background. A really wonderful Oolong.

Preparation

I like the way that Life In Teacup has steeping notes on their site for every tea. This tea packs a punch for flavor but is not overwhelming, for me the toast is mild and it is woodsy but settles into a sweetness at the end. A complex combination of flavors, very pleasant and will keep on the shelf. A nice late afternoon tea.